We continue our series learning how to go up the "ladder of transformation." Tuan Nguyen shares a unique perspective on how to add godliness to your faith.

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OC Church of Christ

Well, first of all, I want to express my gratitude to everyone who

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was very encouraging this morning after

you found out that I was, uh, preaching.

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Um, so hopefully I can encourage you after

you've heard the things that I've said.

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Amen?

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Okay, so, uh, uh, we have, uh, as a

church, uh, been studying out, uh, how to,

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um, go through our transformations, right?

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How, how to How to become, uh, more, uh,

I guess, you know, faithful as a people.

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Uh, how to be, uh, maybe more

present in our relationship with God.

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So, we have this term

called Become More in 24.

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And, uh, my part of this, uh,

kind of series is godliness.

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And I have to tell you that godliness,

uh, at least to me, is It's very

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intimidating to talk about, uh, because

I think, uh, I personally just feel

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the pressure of, uh, defining it,

of, you know, like, Making sure that,

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uh, it's something that, um, kind of

conforms to what God wants me to say.

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Okay?

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So, at the beginning of this

year, I actually started this book

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called The Practice of Godliness.

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And so, when, uh, Marcel, you know,

had sent out a text with, uh, the

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different people who would be, uh,

giving the lessons, I thought, oh,

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Okay, I can just copy the book, right?

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And, uh, you know, I can,

uh, do what it does, right?

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Which is, you know, it defines

it, gives you a few examples, and

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I thought, cool, I got a plan.

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Okay.

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So, fast forward to a couple of weeks

ago, I sat down with some friends, I

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tried out the ideas for the lesson.

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And I think, uh, the Well, they, they're,

you know, they look very confused,

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like what are you trying to say?

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What is, you know, what is the point?

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And I walked away from that thinking,

okay, well, uh, that's not a good plan.

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Yeah, because I definitely

don't want to confuse people.

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And so, uh, I prayed about it, uh,

angrily, I would say, you know, just

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frustrated that, uh, that was not

as clear to them as it was to me.

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Okay, so, what you're gonna hear this

morning Is, I think, the Spirit's

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prompting of me changing my mind

about, uh, this concept of godliness.

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And, and, really, what the Spirit told

me was, Okay, have you ever considered

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looking at this from Peter's perspective?

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What is he really trying to tell us in

the Scripture when he talks about this?

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Okay, so that's what we're

going to be, uh, reviewing.

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Okay, first, let's go through, uh, 2

Peter, uh, chapter 1, verse 3, right?

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And, and we'll go through,

uh, verse 3 through 9.

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So I'll read it.

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It says, His divine power has given

us everything we need for a godly life

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through our knowledge of Him who called

us by His own glory and goodness.

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Through these He has given us His

very great and precious promises so

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that through them you may participate.

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In the divine nature, having

escaped the corruption of the

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world caused by evil desires.

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These words are really, really

rich in detail, I think.

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For this very reason, make every

effort to add to your faith, goodness,

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and to goodness, knowledge, and

to knowledge, self control, to

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self control, perseverance, and

to perseverance, godliness, mutual

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affection, and to mutual affection, love.

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For if you possess these qualities in

increasing measure, they will keep you.

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From being ineffective and

unproductive in your knowledge of

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our Lord Jesus Christ, but whoever

does not have them is nearsighted

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and blind, forgetting that they have

been cleansed from their past sins.

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Okay, so in order for us, in order for

me to understand what's in the mind

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of Peter, I think it's very important,

it was important for me, uh, to

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consider what Peter's worldview was.

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So basically, what was his idea of God,

what was his interpretation of God's

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people as they practiced godliness, right?

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So for that, we'd go to the Old

Testament, because I do think that

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Peter was influenced by scripture and

also by teachings and by the way that

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people lived their life out, okay?

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Now, uh, I have to warn you that you'll

probably see a lot of scriptures, not

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every one of these is going to be,

we're not going to read all of them,

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we're not going to explain all of them.

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I just want you to, to see here

that this is his worldview.

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And when I started to, uh, look at

all of the different variations,

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the ways that, um, you know,

the, the concept of godliness

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appeared through the Old Testament.

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These three stuck out.

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And I think they stuck out

because I really think that Peter,

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uh, was influenced by these.

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Okay, so, the first one.

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And it's also important to note that,

uh, in different versions of the Bible,

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there are different words that are used.

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So, in the English Standard

Version, the word godly is used.

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In the New International Version

The word faithful is used.

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Okay, so, you know, the first

one, talks about, uh, God

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being able to save the godly.

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Uh, the second one, it talks about,

um, you know, God setting, uh,

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setting apart His, His people.

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Uh, people of faith.

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People of godliness.

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So, in the Old Testament, Godliness

wasn't necessarily something that you did.

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Godliness was more of,

like, a community identity.

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Like, we are a people of God.

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Not that, you know, like, Peter was

godly and his friends were not godly.

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Does that make sense?

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Because it was really

associated to your faith in God.

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Okay, the third one I think is

really, really, uh, Very significant.

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Uh, it, it talks about, you know, the

godly who are saved, uh, even when a

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rush of great waters, uh, confronts them.

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Right?

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So, you can think through, you know,

some of the incidents in Peter's life

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where he could be thinking about this.

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I'll make it much more clear as we go on.

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Okay, so, let's see who Peter was.

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A lot of us, you know, see Peter

as someone who was rash, right?

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Someone who was impulsive,

someone who did things before

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he, uh, thought them through.

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I can relate to that.

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Uh, you know, when Simon, uh, and

his name was Simon, when Simon meets

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Jesus, uh, he owned a fishing business.

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Right, so he was an entrepreneur.

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Uh, and he had partners in

the business who trusted him.

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Right, so he at least was the

president or the CEO of this

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fishing, you know, uh, venture.

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Right?

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Uh, he had very, very close relationships.

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People followed him.

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Right?

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Uh, he was a family man.

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He was very close to

his, uh, wife's family.

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We know this because Jesus Prior to

meeting Peter, uh, on, you know, the

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shores of Zebedee, uh, on the shores

of, uh, Galilee, uh, he goes to Peter's

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home and he heals his mother in law.

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So we know that, you know, Peter is,

um, uh, he cares a lot about his family.

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Uh, when Peter follows Jesus, uh, there

are some things that only happen to Peter.

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I don't know if you, uh, you, you know,

like, uh, know that, like, when he sees

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the transfiguration, even though he's

joined by others, he's the only one that

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asks, you know, to pitch a tent, right?

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Uh, he's, uh, recognized, he's the only

one who recognized Jesus as the Messiah.

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He's the only one who rebukes Jesus.

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He's the only one who denied Jesus.

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He's the only one who walked on water.

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And, he's the only one who

sliced Someone's ear off, right?

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Actually, there are many other things

that Peter did that only Peter did.

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Okay, so, uh, Why, why, you know,

am I bringing all these things?

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Because I think I really needed to

understand what he was saying in that,

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you know, passage of scripture, right?

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So, it's important, it's important

to, for me, I like to know

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who it is that I'm talking to.

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Uh, do you ever feel that way?

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Like, hey, I wonder why they are

coming at me with that, right?

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Or, I wonder what they're, uh, I wonder

what, why they're using this approach.

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What do they mean when they

use the words that they use?

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I think that's very important because

I think it helps us to understand

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each other as we're interacting

with each, with each other, right?

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We all have individual.

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You know, like they may, they may

not all be unique, uh, you know,

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ideas or, you know, uh, opinions.

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But they are individual and they

are influenced by some of the things

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that happened to us during our life.

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Okay, so we'll go back and

we'll just take a look at the

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first part, not the second part.

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It says, His divine power.

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Has given us everything we need

for a godly life through our

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knowledge of him who called us

by his own glory and goodness.

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Through these he has given us his great

and precious promises so that through them

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you may participate in the divine nature.

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Haven't escaped the corruption of

the world caused by evil desires.

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Okay, so.

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Oh no!

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Yeah, that's terrible.

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Okay, so, uh, yeah, I had,

I worked on it for a while.

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It was animation.

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Okay, so, Sorry.

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Um, so, so, Peter knows that

there is a human nature, Peter's

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nature, and God's nature.

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And they are distinct.

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They're separate.

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Right?

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Now, Peter knows that if you rely

on your human nature, what happens

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is that you conform to the

corruption of the world because

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it's caused by evil desires.

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Right?

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He knows this.

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Right?

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Okay, so what the slide is supposed

to do is it's supposed to show us

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that faith is what allows us To

move a little bit closer to God.

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Okay?

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But it's God's goodness and

His glory that allows us to

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participate in the divine nature.

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Does that make sense to you?

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So imagine the red circle

coming to the yellow circle and

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of course there's an overlap.

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There's a region of overlap.

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That region of overlap does a few things.

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What do you think it

does to Peter's nature?

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It suppresses it.

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Right?

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Because you cannot participate in the

divine nature and still be corrupted.

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Right?

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You can't do that.

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So, as the divine nature takes over

our nature, transformation occurs.

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And it is this that Peter is

really trying to express to us.

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One, you cannot accomplish it unless you

recognize God's goodness and God's glory.

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And it's not just godliness

to help you do godly things.

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I'll show you why Peter

clearly understands this.

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But, The goal of this, really,

honestly, if the only thing that

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you remember from this is that

the two circles overlap, okay?

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And the goal is for God's divine nature

to take over our nature completely, right?

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But you cannot have that.

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You cannot have that.

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Unless you have a faith that

it's the goodness and the glory

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that allows that to happen.

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Alright, okay.

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So, let's see what Paul

says about godliness.

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Because I think, you know, his writings

are very important to the New Testament.

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Uh, Paul says, hey, we, we, right?

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Not people corrupted by the world.

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We can have a form of

godliness, but deny its power.

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Now, I'm going to leave it up to you.

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To search in the Bible to

see what that actually means.

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Having a form, denying its power.

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But it's possible for us to have

faith, to, to seem to take on

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the form of godliness, right?

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I think part of it is we, we

look like we're godly people.

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We look like we're a people of God.

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But the divine nature is

not suppressing our nature.

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I think that that's what that means.

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Okay.

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Uh, it's a knowledge of the

truth that leads us to godliness.

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Okay.

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So, if we are not studying

God's word, and I think more

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importantly, taking it as truth.

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So in other words, it is more important

than the messaging that we receive from

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the world, or even from other people.

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Right?

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If we're counseling each other without

the truth, we don't get led to godliness.

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Okay, we have to pursue godliness.

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Right?

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It's not something that comes to us.

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We actually have to exert a lot of

energy to make sure that we Now,

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again, I don't want you to think that

I think that this is an effort thing.

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Right?

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It's not an effort thing.

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I think that this is God's glory,

God's goodness, God's precious promises

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that allow us the, the luxury of being

able to call ourselves God's people.

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Okay, now, this is one thing that I

think is really, you know, uh, tough.

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Train yourself to be godly.

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Okay?

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Like, you know, Preaching

is always great on Sundays.

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Your midweeks are fantastic.

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Right?

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Discipling partnerships, they're great.

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But train yourself.

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That is not easy.

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And I think that I'll share

one incident in Peter's life.

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Where I think he really understood

this, even though Paul states

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this, I think Peter understands

that you have to train yourself.

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And the rest of it says there's value for

this present life and the life to come.

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Kind of strange.

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That after we pass this life, and we

go to meet our loving Jesus, that the

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divine nature is still significant.

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Do you know what I'm saying?

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You know, like, we don't just become

perfect when we become disciples.

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And we certainly do not reach perfection

when we cross over to the other life.

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Okay, what kinds of things

in our life can be godly?

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Sorrow can be godly and must be godly.

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Sincerity must be godly.

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Okay, so let's go back to Peter.

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What about Peter's

perspective about all of this?

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Okay?

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Now, remember when I said that,

you know, Paul says that we

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can have a form of godliness.

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So Peter, in Acts 3, at the very, very

beginning, after, you know, Pentecost

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happens, Uh, they go to the temple, right?

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Uh, they see, uh, a beggar, who,

uh, I think was, uh, paralyzed

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or, was crippled, crippled, yeah.

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And so, So, uh, you know, Peter, you

know, he asked him for money and he

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said, you know, money we don't have, but

you know, uh, here's what we do have.

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We have the power to, uh, we have

the power of God, you know, walk.

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And so, you know, he starts walking

and the people are wondering

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like, Hey, what's happening?

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How did you do this?

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And Peter says, when Peter saw this,

he said to them, fellow Israelites,

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why does this surprise you?

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Why do you stare at us as if

by our own power and godliness?

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We have made this man walk.

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Okay, is it possible for you and I in our

yellow circle to have our own godliness?

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Well, according to Peter, yeah.

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Yes.

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It's not easily recognizable.

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But, it kind of fools us, right?

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What he's saying is, hey,

you just saw a miracle.

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Don't think I did it.

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Don't assign me the credit.

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It's glory and goodness.

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Right?

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But he knows that we, as people, of

a corrupt, you know, like, mindset,

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sometimes look at each other and

see godliness where there is not a

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sincere and a truly an authentic.

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Godliness, right?

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Okay, so, uh, remember when we were

talking about Psalms 3 and, you know,

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like, God's people, godly people,

or faith, uh, you know, faithful

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people, they are set apart, okay?

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Peter, twice in his books,

says, live holy and godly lives.

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Now, I think he believes

that these two are different.

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But I think he knows you cannot

have one without the other.

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So in other words, if you have not, if

you cannot see yourself as set apart

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and live a life that is set apart,

then it's really difficult and nearly

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impossible for you to attain a godliness.

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Hopefully that makes sense.

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Okay, uh, this one, I really think, well,

this is the one that Uh, I think the

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Spirit was telling me, is what we need.

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Uh, 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 9 says,

If this is so, then the Lord knows

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how to rescue the godly from trials.

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Okay, so remember the rushing

waters, uh, the psalm that

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talked about the rushing waters.

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Uh, I think that Peter

had that on his mind.

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Whenever, He was on the seas,

and fishing, and especially when

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he, uh, interacted with Jesus.

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And, and we'll talk about that.

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Okay.

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So, the only point is the godly, you and

I, if we see ourselves as God's people.

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If we are set apart, if we're holy.

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We need rescue.

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Now, is that something that

you think about all the time?

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I do not.

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Because my first question is,

well, if you're godly, why

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do you need to be rescued?

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What's your problem?

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Are you godly?

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Right?

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I mean, I don't know, maybe I'm, maybe I

have a critical mind, but I think, right?

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Like, if you're being godly, things

should be going well for you.

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So, uh, when did Peter need to be rescued?

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Well, I think the first time that we

see Peter needing to be rescued, his

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conversion, Luke 5, uh, when he's

fishing, large crowds are traveling,

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you know, like following Jesus, Jesus

sees them, Peter and his, Partners had

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already gone through a night of fishing.

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They didn't catch anything.

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And, uh, Jesus says, hey, uh,

can you take me out from shore?

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Right?

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That's all it was.

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That's all, that's all that that was.

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And so I think, you know, Peter Now

remember, you know, uh, Jesus had

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already healed Peter's mother in law.

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And so, you know, Peter, I think,

had Some obligation to this rabbi

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who was, you know, walking around.

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And I think also, Peter saw Jesus

as a different type of rabbi.

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Right?

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Okay.

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So, you know, Jesus is on the boat.

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Uh, they go out.

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Uh, uh, you probably remember this.

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You know, he says, he casts the nets.

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Peter says, hey, we've been

here doing this all night.

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But because you say so, I'm gonna do it.

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He does it.

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You know, they catch.

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A large, uh, you know, uh,

they, they catch a lot of fish.

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And so, um, Peter, um, What, Simon Peter

saw this, he fell at Jesus knees and said,

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Go away from me, Lord, I am a sinful man.

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Then Jesus said to Simon, Don't be afraid.

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From now on, you will fish for people.

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Okay, so I think it's important.

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When we're talking about Peter

needing to be rescued to know why it

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is that Jesus said don't be afraid.

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Right?

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What are you afraid of, Peter?

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I think Peter in this moment was afraid

to live for the rest of his life in sin.

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I think that that's, that's what he said.

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Right?

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I'm a sinful man.

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He comes into the presence

of who he knows is God.

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And he's afraid.

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He's afraid that there will

be an accounting for his life.

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I believe this.

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So what does he do?

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He does the natural thing that

a person who is godly does.

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He leaves his nets and he follows.

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That's it.

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Right, now.

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When I learned about this as a,

as a young man, new disciple,

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I thought, yeah, naturally.

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You know, like, what's the big deal?

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You know?

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Like, for me, I didn't have a lot.

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So, it's not much to leave my nets.

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But I think for Peter, it's different.

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Right?

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Peter had a business.

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He had people who were relying on him.

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And I think what he found was,

hey, I only have One real option.

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If I don't want to live the rest of my

life this way, I need to follow him.

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Right?

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So that was the first rescue, I think.

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He had countless rescues.

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The second rescue, uh, was, you know, when

they were, you know, they were with Jesus.

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Jesus said, you know, go ahead of me.

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You know, uh, Jesus stayed behind.

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Um, they were on the Sea of Galilee.

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And, uh, they go ahead, there's a,

you know, there's a storm, you know,

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there's waves, uh, it's night time, uh,

and, uh, uh, suddenly, the disciples

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see a figure walking and one of them

says, oh no, it's a ghost, right?

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Um, and, uh, he comes closer and Peter

says, hey, Lord, if it's you, tell me

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to come out and I'll come to you, right?

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Now, Uh, there's plenty

of people on that boat.

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I don't know why nobody else

said this, except for Peter.

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Well, I think that Peter, as a person, uh,

who strives for godliness, Peter keeps,

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uh, you know, scriptures in his mind.

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I think one of those scriptures

was that god will save the

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man from the rushing waters.

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They'll never reach him.

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Right?

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I don't know that that's true.

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I like thinking that way.

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Right?

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Okay.

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So, Peter got down out of the boat, walked

on the water, came toward Jesus, but when

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he saw the wind, he was afraid, beginning

to sink, cried out, Lord, save me.

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Okay, and I think, you know,

we've heard plenty of things,

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plenty of lessons about this.

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Okay?

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What do I think Peter

needed to be rescued from.

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I think that Peter, when he saw

Jesus, when he thought about the

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scripture, uh, he was untouchable.

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Right?

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That, uh, and I, really, I don't

mean untouchable in the sense,

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you know, in the human sense.

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What I mean is that the forces of nature,

uh, that, that, you know, gravity, that

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time, space, like all those things, Uh,

did not apply to his physical, like, form

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at the time because, uh, he was thinking

simply about Jesus, about the scriptures.

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And when he lost track of that,

he needed Jesus to save him.

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He needed Jesus to remind him that

this is the most important thing.

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I think that that's the thing

that he needed rescue from.

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Okay, and then the final thing.

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So, the final thing is, I think,

really, uh, well, probably

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what I need at this time.

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I've been a disciple in the church here

for thirty, two, thirty, yeah, three.

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Thirty three, yeah.

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Thirty three years.

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Uh, so I've gone from a campus student

to being a single, to, you know,

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and we've, my wife and I, we've led

ministries, uh, large and small.

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Uh, we've seen a lot, we've been through a

lot, uh, we have, like you, endured a lot.

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Right?

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Sometimes, uh, because

of people around us.

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Godly people, spiritual people, right?

434

That's, it's okay to say, cause I

think that's what happened with Peter.

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Right?

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And I think Peter also was

someone who caused Jesus, you

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know, a lot of hardship, right?

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Okay, so, John chapter 21.

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Jesus has died, he's, he's, uh, you know,

he was, uh, crucified, he's doing his kind

440

of resurrection, like, uh, tour, right?

441

So he's appearing to different people.

442

Okay, so, important to note, that I'm

just setting up the context, okay?

443

Uh, Peter, Peter is not by himself, he's

with his partners, sons of Zebedee, and

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four other disciples, they name them.

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Peter says, hey, I'm going out to fish.

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They say, hey, we'll go with you.

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Okay, caught nothing all night,

very, very, uh, familiar.

448

Uh, they see a man from the

shore in the early morning.

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Friends, haven't you any fish?

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Throw your net on the right side, right?

451

And of course, I think

this is very reminiscent.

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I think probably in Peter's mind,

he's thinking, Oh, I don't recognize

453

who's talking to me, but I recognize

the circumstance that I'm in.

454

And of course, I think at the time, just

like when Jesus met him, the temptation

455

was, you know, I own a fishing business.

456

I know what to do.

457

Now, a lot of us, I think, can feel

the temptation to think the same way.

458

Why?

459

Because we're just, we're a

part of the corrupted world.

460

Do you know what I'm saying?

461

Like, it's just natural for us to

have thoughts that are opposite.

462

Of what Jesus, I mean that's why he

needs to train us, you know, okay.

463

All right.

464

So says throw your nets on the other

side They catch a large number of fish

465

And and in the bible, it still doesn't

say that peter knows who this is.

466

He just jumps in the water Notice he's not

walking on the water goes toward the shore

467

ahead of the boat Uh, and I don't know

if he swims or if he's just, you know,

468

it says they're a hundred meters away.

469

Okay, uh, they land and they

see a fire with fish and bread.

470

Okay?

471

Jesus says, bring some of

the fish you have caught.

472

Okay?

473

And then, you know, the Bible

gives you a count of how many.

474

Jesus says, come and have breakfast.

475

No one dared ask, who are you?

476

It says, they think they

know that it's the Lord.

477

They all have, they all

take bread and fish.

478

Okay, so the interesting thing here,

okay, Uh, you know, we're not reading,

479

but, but, The interesting thing is,

um, Jesus says, Bring the fish, but

480

he doesn't cook any of the fish.

481

He just says, Bring the fish.

482

Okay, and I think this is

also a lesson to Peter.

483

So, I think what happens now is,

uh, You know, Peter denied Jesus.

484

It's been

485

He doesn't see his lord.

486

He's hanging out with his friends.

487

They don't know what to do.

488

He says, I'm going to go fishing.

489

They don't catch anything.

490

Someone tells them to

do something ridiculous.

491

He does it.

492

They catch, you know,

like, they see a miracle.

493

So, uh, so, they, they

have this miraculous catch.

494

Something miraculous happens.

495

Because, uh, He obeyed Jesus.

496

Right?

497

So he, you know, like Jesus told

him to do something, he did it.

498

Okay.

499

Uh, Jesus says bring the fish,

but he doesn't use the fish.

500

He doesn't cook the fish.

501

He doesn't give them the fish.

502

Okay.

503

This, I think, is Peter's lesson.

504

Okay?

505

The lesson is, uh, your

nature, God's divine nature.

506

Even though you saw a miracle

when you obeyed me, Uh, we cannot,

507

I can't use your good deeds.

508

Because you need the fish I give you.

509

We can't mix the two.

510

That's what I think.

511

Right?

512

Now, the other reason I think That

Peter has to, you know, bring the fish.

513

Okay.

514

It says, When they had finished eating,

Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son

515

of John, Do you love me more than these?

516

Yes, Lord.

517

He said, You know I love you.

518

Jesus said, Feed my lambs.

519

Again, Jesus said, Simon,

son of John, Do you love me?

520

He answered, Yes, Lord.

521

You know I love you.

522

He said, Take care of my sheep.

523

The third time, He said, Simon,

son of John, Do you love me?

524

Peter was hurt.

525

Because Jesus asked him the

third time, do you love me?

526

He said, Lord, you know all

things, you know I love you.

527

He said, feed my sheep.

528

Okay, uh, The way that this hit me,

okay, I thought, okay, well, let me

529

put myself in Peter's shoes and try

to think through what he was feeling,

530

think through what he needs, okay,

and why he needs to be rescued.

531

Now, you know, the last time he saw

Jesus, he denied him three times.

532

Right?

533

And then, he basically is by himself.

534

Now, he's, you know, maybe with

some of the other disciples,

535

and maybe he's talking to them.

536

But he's grieving pretty much on his own.

537

And I think, you know, once,

Jesus, you can ask me, and I'll

538

say, you know that I love you.

539

The second time, I'm tempted to feel

like, you know, you weren't there.

540

When I was struggling, when I was

really grieving, where were you?

541

Why did it take you so long to come to me?

542

Right?

543

And also, like, why ain't

you asking these other guys?

544

Why are you asking me?

545

Right?

546

You already know that I love you.

547

Why are you putting me

through this torture?

548

I don't know if you would feel tortured,

but if someone asked you three times

549

and gave you the same answer, like, feed

my sheep, what, what, what about them?

550

What, don't they need to feed your sheep?

551

Right?

552

I think the thing that Jesus was trying

to help Peter to understand, that he

553

needed rescue from, he says here to us.

554

One, if you possess these qualities in

increasing measure, meaning, uh, when you

555

feel like you have become a godly person,

remember that there are increasing amounts

556

of these qualities that help you not to

return to the place Where you would go if

557

I, if you felt like I didn't go with you.

558

Do you know what I'm saying?

559

So, in other words, I think

sometimes we want to go back to

560

the places where we draw our power.

561

Where our nature is

what drives our success.

562

Not the divine nature.

563

Because the divine

nature suppresses, right?

564

It makes us have to submit, right?

565

Increasing measure.

566

That's the first thing.

567

It will keep you from an ineffective,

unproductive, being unproductive in

568

your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

569

Right?

570

When is knowledge unproductive?

571

When is it ineffective?

572

Right?

573

I think the lesson also for

Peter is, Hey, you're not alone.

574

You got people around you.

575

And it's important for you to

understand that you, whatever

576

decisions you make, impact them.

577

You wanna go fishing?

578

Guess what they did?

579

They went fishing.

580

You know what I'm saying?

581

It's super important for us to remember

that the daily decisions that we make,

582

the decisions to worship God, the

decisions to, uh, not listen, We all

583

have a right not to listen, right?

584

But remember that that makes an

impact on somebody else's faith.

585

I think that that is the rescue.

586

That's the thing.

587

Whether you're a young Christian or an

older Christian, I think the important

588

thing to remember is God wants us to have

these qualities in increasing measure.

589

So, this week, and for Communion, I'd

like to ask you to meditate about this.

590

Because I think this also

was a revelation for me.

591

In Hebrews chapter 5 it says, During

the days of Jesus life on earth,

592

He offered up prayers and petitions

with fervent cries and tears to the

593

One who could save Him from death.

594

And he was heard because

of his reverent submission.

595

Son though he was, he learned obedience

from what he suffered, and once made

596

perfect, he became the source of eternal

salvation for all who obeyed him.

597

Jesus cried tears to the

one who could save him.

598

Even Jesus himself recognized.

599

that he needed rescue.

600

Amen.

601

I'm going to pray for our communion.

602

Father in heaven, we are so grateful

to you that, um, uh, you love us as

603

deeply as you do grateful for, uh,

examples like Peter who, uh, help us to

604

understand that it's possible for us.

605

Uh, to become, uh, a people,

um, who resemble you.

606

Uh, a people who have qualities, uh,

that you desire, that you're pleased by.

607

Um, Father, I really pray that as,

um, a family, um, as, uh, a spiritual

608

community, uh, that we would, um,

be committed to helping each other,

609

uh, to grow, uh, in this area.

610

And I pray that you help us.

611

Uh, not to misunderstand your

scripture, uh, but to, uh, really

612

develop a, a, a true sense of worship.

613

Um, we love you so much.

614

Thank you for forgiving us of our sins.

615

Thank you for, uh, providing a

way for us, uh, towards salvation.

616

I pray all the saints in your son's name.

617

Amen.